The ceremony heralds 11 days of competition, with the highest number of athletes since the birth of the Paralympics in 1960, with 4,280 athletes representing over 160 nations.

London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe said he hoped the Games "would be a landmark for people with a disability everywhere, a landmark in the progress of mankind towards the light, towards seeing immense capability and possibility".

The president of the International Paralympic Committee, Philip Craven, added that the Games were "a celebration of the human spirit" that had "the energy to change each and every one of us".

The rising interest has been reflected in ticket sales - 2.4 million of the available 2.5 million have been sold.